Sounds of the Imagination

By Tiffany Barclay

The process of writing a musical necessitates feeling and experiencing emotions to a depth that matches or exceeds reality.  Nineteen characters.  Nineteen people experiencing and responding to joy, excitement, and pain.  Nineteen voices coming to life.  But how?  In order for them to be real to the audience, they have to be real to the author first.  The author must feel their pain, experience their joy and view the world through their eyes. 
 
Feeling the emotions of characters yet to exist isn’t easy.  When script writing, I have found listening to music a great asset.  Music compels emotion – joy, courage, love, sadness, fear, tension and a myriad of other emotions depending on the composition.  Perhaps you’ve experienced sadness when listening to a melancholy song?  Or joy when listening to a triumphant song?  Or tension when listening to a dissonant song?
 
For Estranged Identity, a kaleidoscope of contrasting emotions necessitated being felt and experienced.  Happiness, grief, annoyance, playful-jesting, anger, bitterness, revenge, and joy are just a few of the vast collection in this script.  Several songs served as inspiration throughout this process.  The Overture from Sweeney Todd by Stephen Sondheim and Mars from The Planets by Gustav Holst aided when crafting the demon characters.  Ratatouille and Chicken Run were helpful when creating positive character emotions.  I also enjoyed listening to a few other songs when writing – Dvorak’s New World Symphony, Don’t Cry for Me Argentina from Evita, Lily’s Eyes from The Secret Garden, Johanna and By the Sea from Sweeney Todd, as well as the entire score from Ragtime. 
 
The process of feeling and experiencing the emotions of my characters wasn’t easy.  But with the help of great music, nineteen characters came to life.  Nineteen people experience and respond to joy, excitement, and pain.  Nineteen voices are heard.  And if you come to see Estranged Identity, nineteen characters will draw you into their lives, enabling you to feel their pain, experience their joy and view the world through their eyes.